Third Time's the Charm
by wolfspeaker01
Summary: Every time they meet, he thinks she's like no one he's ever known before. And maybe one day, she'll finally learn his name.
1. The First Meeting

**Warnings**: Fluff, some angst, possible OOC-ness.

For Nanashi-Angel's Birthday.

* * *

"Why are you following me?" No-Name asked, his one visible eye staring blankly at the smiling girl in front of him. She had been tagging along behind him all day, skipping and singing and not bothering to even try to pretend she wasn't blatantly stalking him. Her cheerful grin did not fade under his scrutiny as she tilted her head to the side. And then her hand darted out.

"I'm Luna. What's your name?"

No-Name stepped back, only to realize that she was only offering her hand to shake.

"Why are you following me?"

Blue eyes seemed to sparkle, though the girl's mouth was turned down in a pout, "You're s'posed to tell me your name. That's how it goes." She pulled away her hand, only to extend it again, "I'm Luna. What's your name?"

". . . don't have one." No-Name answered after a moment's thought.

"That's silly. Ev'rybody has a name. Unless. . ." her eyes widened, and she leaned in close, nearly touching noses with him. "Did the wrackspurts steal yours?" she asked in a stage whisper.

No-Name stumbled backwards, not used to having anyone so close. "Wrackspurts?"

"They don't usu'ly steal names, but I imagine they couldn't pass it up. . . Maybe it was a really great name, like Allill or Viltautas." Luna mused to herself, still studying the boy in front of her. He didn't move, his eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what exactly she was talking about, and if she actually had a reason for doing so.

"Turnip!" No-Name was almost glad for the arrival of the brightly dressed man, as it pulled Luna's attention away from him. "There's no crumple-horned snorkack here. I could have sworn that the rotation of the colony's orbit would attract them. . . . " The man shook his head, "Nevermind, we shall return to Earth. They must have gone into hiding, maybe underground. . ." Muttering to himself, the man began walking away.

No-Name could do little more than blink. He had never seen such an... eccentric... man before. Luna seized the opportunity to dart up close and give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"To keep away the wrackspurts." She explained solemnly before she dashed off, yelling over her shoulder, "I hope you get your name back!"

His hand drifting up to touch his cheek where she had kissed it, No-Name stared at the figure slowly shrinking with distance.

What a strange girl.


	2. The Second Meeting

**Warnings:** Plotholes galore. If you poke them, they might bite.

* * *

"Oh, hello again! You've certainly gotten tall."

Had he been anyone else, Triton might have jumped at the sudden appearance of the bright-eyed girl who greeted him so cheerfully, as though she knew him. It was rather disorienting, but so was not remembering anything of his life before now, and, really, she might have been his best friend for all that he could recall.

"Hello," he allowed the word to slip from his lips, unable to look away as the girl's smile brightened.

"Hello," she repeated, even more enthusiastically than the first time. "I never thought I'd see you come to Earth. And here of all places! You seem like the type to prefer places a little less crowded."

Was he supposed to say something to that? He couldn't think of anything, his expression blank as he stared at her.

"I'm sorry," the girl took a step back, "You might not remember me - wrackspurts can be awfully tricky. I'm Luna. I would ask your name, but it looks like you haven't found it just yet. Don't worry, I'm sure it will find you soon enough. Names always do, after all."

"...What?"

"You _haven't_ found it yet, have you?" At Triton's blank stare, she explained, "Your name."

"...my name?" She knew him well enough to approach him in a crowded train station, but she didn't know his name? "Triton."

"Really?" Luna frowned, stepping forward, her brow creasing as she seemed to try and stare right through him. "You certainly don't seem much like a Triton."

Triton didn't know how to react, simply staring at her until she pushed past his comfort zone, standing on her tiptoes to brush the long hairs out of his eyes.

At the sudden touch, Triton flinched away, stumbling backwards in his effort not to lash out at the girl. The buzz of the crowd intensified; he could _feel_ the people passing by, his mind taking each one into account and categorizing them.

A soldier - _threat._

A mother and her brood - _innocents._

The blond girl staring at him - _possible threat_. His mind told him to take her out (_he could think of several ways to do it with only his hands_), and he knew that if he listened he could have her incapacitated in moments.

He shook his head, letting his hair settle back in front of his eye, and watching Luna warily.

No one touched him like that. Not Cathy, for all that she had wept over him as he recovered, and now that she sheltered him with all the ferocity of a mother bear; and certainly not this strange girl he had no memory of. And for good reason, if his reaction was to take whoever was touching him down.

He wanted to run. To go back to the circus and slip through the bars of the lions' trailer and curl up with the warmth that was more familiar than anything else. Except... at the same time, he didn't.

He wanted to know how Luna knew him, if she could tell him who he really was.

If she knew the voice filled with pain that echoed through his dreams of shadows and ice.

"You've lost everything," Luna whispered, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "There's nothing left but hurt and darkness..." Her voice faded to little more than a breath of air, her wide eyes full of wonder as she looked at him. "You must be so strong to keep living."

No. He lived because he needed to. Because something inside of him refused to give up.

He lived because there was something he needed to do.

"Isn't that what strength is?"

He started, eyes narrowing at her, but Luna just smiled up at him, her smile dim and her eyes damp, but with a light of understanding in her gaze that warmed something inside of him. "You are strong, and one day, you will find your true name. I can't wait for you to finally tell me what it is." Then her eyes widened, as she stared behind him. "Oh- I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I can't miss the train!"

He wanted to say something, a promise, a question, but before he could do more than open his mouth, he blinked, and she was gone.

Only the faint scent of honeysuckle remained as proof that he hadn't imagined her.


	3. The Third Meeting

I did warn you about plotholes.

* * *

"I thought I'd imagined you."

The smile that met Trowa's matter-of-fact statement was bright, and there was no denying that the young woman standing on his doorstep was the same person who had confronted him in the train station not so many years earlier, despite the look of weariness in her eyes.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry to disappoint, but you're as real as I am."

The strange turn of phrase bringing a small smile to his lips, Trowa pulled the door open wider, a tilt of his head as an invitation.

He didn't trust her, it was too early for that, but he did know that if she knew where he lived, there were better ways to hurt him than to walk up to the door and knock. It did help that she was still smaller than him by nearly a head, though he knew better than to underestimate her simply because of that.

And, if nothing else, he wanted to know more about this girl who knew him, whose words had helped him through the war; had helped him understand what it was he needed to do.

_You are strong._

It had been exactly what he needed to hear.

"I don't mean to intrude," she hesitated after the first step, her smile fading slightly as she scans the room with wary eyes. "But I had hoped you wouldn't mind."

The look in her eyes was familiar; the look of one who had been hurt one too many times before, and yet still had the strength to hope and dream that maybe this time will be better. The same look that was in Cathy's eyes when he walked away from her to rejoin the fight he couldn't remember.

It had torn him to walk away then, and now he knew that he couldn't do it again. Not to this delicate waif of a woman with old eyes and the air of a child.

And so he smiled at her. "My name is Trowa."

"Trowa. . ." She rolled the name around in her mouth for a moment, as though testing it out, before nodding and smiling. "It fits you."

"Thank you."

"Why?" She looked so surprised, staring at him as though he'd said something remarkably stupid. "I mean, you can if you want to, but I didn't make it fit – you have to do that yourself. Otherwise it chafes and itches, and then you have to change it, and that's never fun. Names aren't like shoes, you know?" She shared with an air of confidence. "You can't just pull them on and off and expect them to keep fitting."

The sheer mix of logic and nonsense had Trowa chuckling as he led her into the room, closing the door behind them.

He might not trust her fully yet, but she hadn't given him any reason to _distrust _her. And he wasn't about to let her vanish again.

Hiiro had once told him that "the only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions."

So he would-

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Oh, of course. I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood."

-and his emotions were telling him that she would fit into his makeshift family perfectly.

FIN.


End file.
